Fonterra startups part of internal innovation pilot 10 Nov 2016
Related articles
- NZ consumers grow more upbeat, may resume spending Business
- Knowles quits as CEO of KiwiBank Business
- NZ migration bolstered by British invasion Migration
- NZ manufacturing activity reaches highest since 04 Business
- NZ dollar hits 22-month high vs euro Business
- Budget provides $321m for RS&T activities News
- OceanaGold finds new gold deposits at Fraser mine Business
- Transpower gets go-ahead for $170m SI upgrade Business
- Government Widens Drought Assistance News
- NZ home sales creep up in March, still subdued Property
Wednesday 09 November 2016 03:02 PM
Fonterra sets up startups as part of internal innovation pilot
By Fiona Rotherham
Nov. 9 (BusinessDesk) - Fonterra Cooperative Group chief executive Theo Spierings said two startups have been established within the diary giant as a result of its innovation pilot Disrupt.
Speaking at the Future of Food Forum in Auckland today in front of the visiting Dutch royals, Dutch-born Spierings said there was a major opportunity through innovation within the agriculture sector given the challenge to feed the world with a 100 percent increase in food demand by 2050.
Some 700 Fonterra managers and staff from three markets have been involved in Disrupt which is aimed at developing the best of a bunch of internal ideas. Fonterra has said from the original 110 startups ideas submitted from the cooperative’s 20,000 staff, 50 submissions were narrowed down to 11 to compete in a hackathon, where teams of programmers and designers work collaboratively over a short period of time to develop an idea. A few were then selected to go into a formal acceleration programme.
Top management made decisions last month on which proposals would be taken further but the company is keeping tight-lipped at this stage on how many, what the ideas have been, or the funding made available to develop them.
Spierings said today the incubator within the company complemented the work of its 350 staff at the Palmerston North-based research and development centre.
His list of innovation opportunities for the dairy sector through to 2050 included smart precision farming to revolutionise on-farm productivity though he said the Netherlands was well ahead of New Zealand in this area.
Other opportunities included 3D printing to transform the food service supply chain, genetic mapping to enable individually tailored medical nutrition, block chain to revolutionise food traceability, and digital and e-commerce.
Spierings also talked about the talent opportunity with the quality of any company based on the quality of its people, and the need to cultivate diversity of age and gender. In a media interview last year he said setting up groups of 20 to 25-year-olds in hubs in different markets to produce new ideas was something he had done in his previous company where they used the same approach to develop a baby food brand.
Fonterra’s global strategy is based around providing nutrition in a range of circumstances including making it affordable to the poor, he said.
The cooperative's New Zealand farmer shareholders produced 20 billion litres of milk, double the amount of the Netherlands, though production will be down this season due to farmers cutting back on supplementary feeding. Its other milk pools produced 5 billion litres collectively.
Spierings said the strategy was based on matching demand growth to the best source of supply with the New Zealand home market supplemented by five offshore milk pools in South America; in Chile and possibly going to Argentina, the US, Europe, China and Australia.
Food security was another big issue for consumers which is why there was also an opportunity for Fonterra around trust, he said. Last week the cooperative introduced a new global food quality seal – Trusted Goodness – that is being rolled out worldwide, including on Anchor fresh milk sold in New Zealand.
The label also says “From Pure New Zealand” which plays on Tourism New Zealand’s 100% Pure branding and follows Fonterra farmers having spent more than $1 billion on environmental initiatives over the past five years, including fencing 97 percent of defined waterways.
(BusinessDesk)
News
Hilary Timmins' Award-Winning UK Documentary Series To Inspire NZ Students
29 Jun 2020 Education
Dream Catchers, produced and directed by Hilary Timmins, celebrates the success stories of more than thirty inspirational New... more
New Zealand reaffirms support for Flight MH17 judicial process
7 Mar 2020 News
Ahead of the start of the criminal trial in the Netherlands on 9 March, Foreign Minister Winston Peters has reaffirmed the need to... more
Business
NZ Government's Economic package to fight COVID-19
17 Mar 2020 Business News
The Coalition Government has launched the most significant peace-time economic plan in modern New Zealand history to cushion the... more
NZ Government announces aviation relief package
19 Mar 2020 Business News
Transport Minister Phil Twyford today outlined the first tranche of the $600 million aviation sector relief package announced earlier... more
Living
Diversity was Key at New Zealand Trade Tasting in London
6 Jun 2022 Food & Wine
New Zealand Winegrowers Annual Trade Tasting was recently held in London, on Wednesday 4 May, in Lindley Hall.
It was the first... more
Kiwi author stuns Behind the Butterfly Gate
12 Jan 2022 Arts
Hidden behind the Butterfly Gate is where the secret has been kept for 76 years...
New Zealand writer Merryn Corcoran’s... more
Property
Fairer rules for tenants and landlords
17 Nov 2019 Property
17 NOVEMBER 2019
The Government has delivered on its promise to the over one million New Zealanders who now rent to make it fairer... more
New Zealand Government will not implement a Capital Gains Tax
17 Apr 2019 Property
The Coalition Government will not proceed with the Tax Working Group’s recommendation for a capital gains tax, Jacinda Ardern... more
Migration
Boosting border security with electronic travel authority – now over 500,000 issued
19 Nov 2019 Migration
19 NOVEMBER 2019
We’ve improved border security with the NZeTA, New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority, which helps us to... more
Christchurch reinstated as refugee settlement location
18 Aug 2018 Migration
18 AUGUST 2018
HON IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY
The announcement that Christchurch can once again be a settlement location for refugees... more
Travel
Gallipoli Anzac Day services cancelled
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
The New Zealand and Australian Governments have announced this year’s joint Anzac Day services at Gallipoli will be cancelled... more
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
19 Mar 2020 Travel & Tourism
New Zealanders advised not to travel overseas
more
Sport
The Skipper's Diary: Sir Richard Hadlee honouring his father and NZ's Forty-Niners
27 Oct 2019 Cricket
NZNewsUK London Editor Charlotte Everett spoke to Sir Richard Hadlee about why he’s chosen to publish his father’s... more
PREVIEW: All Blacks v England semi-final
26 Oct 2019 Rugby
The two most convincing quarterfinals winners are set to square off in a semifinal showdown for the ages when the All Blacks meet old... more
Columns
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
11 Nov 2016 Opinion
Gordon Campbell on the Gareth Morgan crusade
First published on Werewolf
The ghastly likes of Marine Le Pen in France and Geert ... more
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
10 Nov 2016 Opinion
Column - Gordon Campbell
Gordon Campbell on the US election outcome
Well um.. on the bright side, there (probably)... more
Kiwi Success
Congratulations to Loder Cup winner
26 Sep 2018 People
25 SEPTEMBER 2018
The Loder Cup, one of New Zealand’s oldest conservation awards, has been awarded to Robert McGowan for 2018... more
Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
16 Aug 2018 Appointments
16 AUGUST 2018Appointments to New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO
HON JENNY SALESA
Associate Education Minister Jenny Salesa is... more
Recruitment
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
14 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more
Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
22 Aug 2018 Recruitment
14 AUGUST 2018Historic pay equity settlement for education support workers
RT HON JACINDA ARDERN
HON CHRIS HIPKINS
Prime Minister
The... more